The 10 Best Multicultural Middle Grade Books of 2024

Colours of Us

2 days ago

The Best Multicultural Middle Grade Books of 2024

Following our lists of The Best Multicultural Picture Books of 2024 and The Best Multicultural Chapter Books of 2024, check out this year’s best multicultural middle grade books!

You can buy the books on this list from Amazon USA by clicking on the book titles or images or from my Bookshop page. As an Amazon & Bookshop Associate, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.

The 10 Best Multicultural Middle Grade Books of 2024

Melanin Magic
by Dosse-Via Trenou

Welcome to Forest Magic School, where young mystics learn the basics of African spiritualty through astrology, plant magic, cowrie divination, breathwork, and the magic within melanin! There’s a portal you can enter that will you help you remember your magic. Join Yawa and Kossi as a forest scholar and begin your journey to discovering what African spirituality is all about. With the help of these almost-twins, their classmates, and their professors, you will learn about your magically melanated skin and how to harness the power within you to become more connected to your ancestors and to the universe. Through a beautifully woven narrative and with easy-to-digest prompts and thought questions throughout, Melanin Magic is the guide for any juvenile mystic seeking deeper knowledge about their heritage and the principles of African spirituality. ~ African – Middle School

Alterations
by Ray Xu

Kevin Lee is having a really bad week. Although he lives in a crowded Toronto apartment above the family’s alterations and dry-cleaning store, he mostly goes unnoticed. School isn’t exactly an oasis either—being one of the few Asian kids makes for some unwelcome attention. But when Kevin’s class plans a trip to Thrill Planet, a spectacular theme park, will he finally have a chance to turn his life around, or will it just be another day for Kevin Lee? Alterations is a funny yet poignant middle-grade coming-of-age story that highlights the struggle of feeling invisible while yearning to be seen by all. ~ Asian – Middle School

Boy 2.0
by Tracey Baptiste

Win “Coal” Keegan has just landed in his latest foster home, with a big, noisy, slightly nosy family named the McKays. They seem eager to welcome Coal, but he’s wary of trusting them. So, he doesn’t tell them that he went for a walk with chalk in his pocket to cover a nearby street with his art. He doesn’t tell them that a neighbor found Coal drawing, pulled a gun on him, and fired it. He doesn’t tell them the police chased him. And he definitely doesn’t tell them that when everything went down, Coal somehow turned invisible. Now he has to figure out how. Is he a superhero? Some kind of mutant? A science experiment? Is that why he has no family of his own? As Coal searches for answers and slowly learns to control his invisibility, he turns to the McKay kids and friends both new and old for help. But they soon discover they’re not the only ones looking for a Black boy with superpowers, and the situation is far stranger–and more dangerous–than they ever could have expected. Boy 2.0 is an action-packed superhero story that tweens will love. ~ African – Middle School

Drawing Deena
by Hena Khan

Deena’s always gets a knot in her stomach when her parents argue about money, when it’s time to go to school, or when she struggles to find the right words. She manages to make it through each day with the help of her friends and the art she loves to make. To ease her parents’ money troubles, Deena creates a logo and social media account to promote her mom’s home-based business selling clothes from Pakistan to the local community. With her cousin and friends modeling the outfits and lending their social media know-how, business picks up. But the success and attention make Deena’s cousin and best friend, Parisa, start to act funny. Suddenly Deena’s latest creative outlet becomes another thing that makes her feel nauseated and unsure of herself. After Deena reaches a breaking point, both she and her mother learn the importance of asking for help and that, with the right support, Deena can create something truly beautiful. Drawing Deena is a tenderhearted middle grade novel about a young Pakistani American artist determined to manage her anxiety and forge her own creative path. ~ Asian – Middle School

Bird Nerd
by Jennifer A. Richter

Nyla Braun has always been called a nerd at her Philadelphia school. But that hasn’t stopped her from pursuing her nerdy hobbies, especially when she has best friend Tasha by her side. When a birding tournament between Nyla’s class and a class from a suburban school is announced, Nyla sees her chance to get the respect she deserves. If they win, that is. The Burb Birders will be tough competition. With the contest underway, Nyla soon catches the attention of the most popular girl in class, who also wants to win, setting off a chain of small disasters as Nyla tries to balance old friends and new and the pressure to be cool when you really just want to be yourself. Told with warmth and gentle humor, Bird Nerd combines a deep love of nature and birding with the story of a young girl learning to discover her own confidence and values. ~ African – Middle School

Pied
by Avione Lee

Rim Wickford has never ridden in a flying ferry boat, had a tornado clean his room, or gotten in mounds of trouble by a mischievous weasel, because Rim is the kind of kid who always does what he is told and never gets into trouble. Until one day when he plays a musical pipe and his entire school falls to the ground, like their souls were snatched from their bodies. With one note, the secret his uncle kept from him for years is out, and Rim is quickly swept into the quirky and colorful hidden world of Pipers, persons who can turn melody into magic. But Rim soon learns he is different, even among Pipers, because he is a Pied Piper, the kind of Piper that’s vilified and targeted in the Piper world. His best chance of blending in is acceptance into an exclusive Piper Association where all members are protected from harm. Forced to hide his Pied identity while mastering his new powers, Rim must pass a series of magical, musical trials. But what he is hiding just might be the very thing he needs to succeed. Join Rim on a musical adventure, inspired by the Pied Piper fairy tale, as he discovers his lost magical culture and finds his place in a new world! ~ African – Middle School

Black Star (The Door of No Return series, 2)
by Kwame Alexander

12-year old Charley Cuffey is set on becoming the first female pitcher to play professional ball — a lofty dream for a Black girl in the American South. Even so, Nana Kofi’s thrilling stories about courageous ancestors and epic journeys make it impossible not to dream big. When Charley challenges a neighborhood bully to a game at the church picnic, she knows she can win, even with her ragtag team. But when the picnic spills over onto their ball field, she makes a fateful decision. Black Star is the thrilling second book of the Door of No Return trilogy, set during the turbulent segregation era, and the beginning of The Great Migration. ~ African – Middle School

Also available: The Door of No Return

Weirdo
by Tony Weaver Jr.

Eleven-year-old Tony Weaver, Jr. loves comic books, anime, and video games, and idolizes the heroic, larger-than-life characters he finds there. But his new classmates all think he’s a weirdo. Bullied by his peers, Tony struggles with the hurt of not being accepted and tries to conform to other people’s expectations. After a traumatic event shakes him to his core, he embarks on a journey of self love that will require him to become the hero of his own story. Weirdo is a triumphant, witty, and comedic story for any kid who’s ever felt awkward, left out, or like they don’t belong. ~ African – Middle School

Clutch Time: A Shot Clock Novel
by C. Butler & J.A. Reynolds

Kofi “KO” Douglas is the newly announced #1 ranked AAU player in the country. KO believes nobody can beat him one-on-one. That is, until his former best friend, Ripp, returns home, just in time for the biggest tournament of the summer, the McNabby. KO now has his toughest competition yet. There’s game-changing news at home, too. KO’s dad, who has been incarcerated for the last seven years, is getting out. Can KO prove he’s still the best on the court as his family life turns upside down? Former NBA All-Star Caron Butler and acclaimed author Justin A. Reynolds deliver another superstar performance in Clutch Time, the companion novel to Shot Clock. ~ African – Middle School

Finally Heard
by Kelly Yang

When ten-year-old Lina Gao sees her mom’s video on social media take off, she’s captivated by the potential to be seen and heard! Maybe online she can finally find the confidence she craves. Whereas in real life she’s growing so fast, she feels like microwave popcorn, bursting out of her skin! With the help of her two best friends, Carla and Finn, and her little sister, Millie, Lina sets off to go viral. As she descends deeper and deeper into social media, it will take all her strength to break free from the likes and find the courage to be her authentic self in this fast-paced world. From the New York Times bestselling author of Front Desk comes Finally Heard, the sequel to Finally Seen in which Lina gets a phone and tries to navigate social media, only to discover not everything online is what it seems. ~ Asian – Middle School

Across So Many Seas
by Ruth Behar

In 1492, during the Spanish Inquisition, Benvenida and her family are banished from Spain for being Jewish, and must flee the country or be killed. They journey by foot and by sea, eventually settling in Istanbul. Over four centuries later, in 1923, shortly after the Turkish war of independence, Reina’s father disowns her for a small act of disobedience. He ships her away to live with an aunt in Cuba, to be wed in an arranged marriage when she turns fifteen. In 1961, Reina’s daughter, Alegra, is proud to be a brigadista, teaching literacy in the countryside for Fidel Castro. But soon Castro’s crackdowns force her to flee to Miami all alone, leaving her parents behind. Finally, in 2003, Alegra’s daughter, Paloma, is fascinated by all the journeys that had to happen before she could be born. A keeper of memories, she’s thrilled by the opportunity to learn more about her heritage on a family trip to Spain, where she makes a momentous discovery. Though many years and many seas separate these girls, they are united by a love of music and poetry, a desire to belong and to matter, a passion for learning, and their longing for a home where all are welcome. And each is lucky to stand on the shoulders of their courageous ancestors. Spanning over 500 years, Across So Many Seas is an epic novel about four girls from different generations of a Jewish family, many of them forced to leave their country and start a new life. ~ Diverse – Middle School